These are lists of people who belong to non-European ethnic minorities and have been elected as Members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, European Parliament, and other British devolved bodies, as well as members of the non-elected House of Lords.
In 2001, Muhammad Anwar of Warwick University wrote a paper titled "The participation of ethnic minorities in British politics" that was published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (2001) that in part examined the representation of ethnic minorities at national levels of the British political system.[1] In a chapter in the edited book Race and British Electoral Politics (Routledge, 1998), Andrew Geddes, now Professor of Politics at University of Sheffield, explored the question of "what factors contribute to low levels of ethnic minority representation in the House of Commons".[2]
A research briefing published by the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Library in 2023 notes that:
According to a research paper from House of Commons Library, published in 2020, the first ethnic minority MP was elected in 1767[3] – excluding Jews, who a House of Commons Library briefing paper states generally considered themselves to be a religious rather than an ethnic minority in the 18th/19th century. This was James Townsend, a Whig MP who was of one-eighth African ancestry and who later went on to become Mayor of London in 1772.[4]
Following the election of Anas Sarwar as Scottish Labour Party leader in February 2021, he was described as the first person from an ethnic minority to lead a major British political party,[5] which led to debate about why Jewish party leaders had been excluded from this comparison.[6] [7] [8] Stephen Bush, the political editor of the New Statesman, wrote that "As far as British law is concerned, the answer is open-and-shut: we count as both an ethnic and a religious grouping for the purpose of equalities and employment law." He stated: "Whether Benjamin Disraeli would feel today that he were an ethnic-minority Briton is unknowable: but we can say with copper-bottomed certainty that he and other ethnically-Jewish Britons faced what we would now recognise as workplace discrimination in addition to the open dissemination of racist tropes about Disraeli and his family by his political opponents."[8] The House of Commons Library briefing paper notes that the first practising Jew to sit in the Commons was Lionel de Rothschild, who was first elected in 1847 but who refused to take the Christian oath that MPs are required to swear. He took his seat once the rules had been changed, allowing him to swear on the Old Testament.
At the 2001 general election, the Parliament of the United Kingdom had twelve ethnic minority Members of Parliament (excluding Jews), and after the 2005 general election; that number increased to fifteen.[9] With the 2010 general election, the Parliament of the United Kingdom reported that the number of ethnic minority MPs increased by nearly three-quarters, to a total of 26.[10] The first three Muslim female MPs were elected. All ethnic minority MPs were either Labour (15) or Conservative (11). In October 2013, the UK Parliament reported that the number of ethnic minority MPs stood at 27, or 4.2% of the total.
After the 2015 general election, 41 MPs from an ethnic minority background were elected to Parliament. 25 of the previous 27 ethnic minority MPs retained their seats and were joined by 16 new ethnic minority MPs. 23 were from the Labour Party, 17 of them were Conservatives and one from the SNP.[11] In the 2017 general election, 52 ethnic minority MPs were elected, including 32 Labour MPs, 19 Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat, according to think tank British Future[12] and the House of Commons Library.[13] [14] In the 2019 general election, this figure rose to 66, with 23 Conservative, 41 Labour and two Liberal Democrat non-white MPs. After the 2024 general election, the House of Commons had 90 ethnic minority MPs, including 66 from the Labour Party, 15 Conservatives, five Liberal Democrats and four independent MPs.[15]
Based on data from unofficial sources including Operation Black Vote, the House of Commons Library estimated in a research briefing published in September 2022 that there were 55 ethnic minority members of the House of Lords . Of these, 11 were affiliated with the Labour Party, 16 were crossbenchers, 16 were Conservatives, six were Liberal Democrats, and six were unaffiliated.[16]
| Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | First office held | Year appointed | Ethnicity | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas Clifton Brown | Hexham | Chairman of Ways and Means | 1939 | Black British/White British (Mixed) | ||||
| Nus Ghani | Sussex Weald | Chairman of Ways and Means | 2024 | British Pakistani | ||||
| Party | Portrait | Name | First office held | Year appointed | Ethnicity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos[95] | Secretary of State for International Development | 2003 | Black British | |||
| Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland[96] | Attorney General for England and Wales (attending Cabinet) | 2007 | Black British | |||
| Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi[97] | Minister without Portfolio (attending Cabinet) | 2010 | British Pakistani | |||
| Party | Portraitl | Name | Year entered | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha | 1919 | 1928 | Died | British Indian | ||||
| Arun Kumar Sinha, 2nd Baron Sinha[107] | 1945 | 1967 | Died | British Indian | ||||
| Douglas Clifton Brown, 1st Viscount Ruffside | 1951 | 1958 | Died | Black British/White British (Mixed) | ||||
| Sudhindra Prasanna Sinha, 3rd Baron Sinha[108] | 1969 | 1989 | Died | British Indian | ||||
| Learie Constantine, Baron Constantine | 1969 | 1971 | Died | Black British | ||||
| David Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead[109] | 1975 | 1994 | Died | Black British | ||||
| Pratap Chitnis, Baron Chitnis | 1977 | 2013 | Died | British Indian | ||||
| Shreela Flather, Baroness Flather | 1990 | 2008 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Conservative Party, now a Crossbencher | British Indian | ||||
| 2008 | 2024 | Died | ||||||
| Lydia Dunn, Baroness Dunn[110] | 1990 | 2010 | Permanently disqualified under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 | British Chinese[111] | ||||
| Meghnad Desai, Baron Desai | 1991 | 2020 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Labour Party, now a Crossbencher | British Indian | ||||
| 2020 | Serving | |||||||
| Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester[112] | 1994 | 2009 | Retired | British Pakistani | ||||
| James Lindsay, 3rd Baron Lindsay of Birker[113] | 1995 | 1999 | Removed | British Chinese/White British (Mixed) | ||||
| John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick | 1996 | 2011 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Conservative Party, now a Crossbencher[114] | Black British | ||||
| 2011 | Serving | |||||||
| Swraj Paul, Baron Paul | 1996 | 2010 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Labour Party, now a Crossbencher[115] | British Indian | ||||
| 2010 | Serving | |||||||
| Raj Bagri, Baron Bagri | 1997 | 2010 | Permanently disqualified under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 | British Indian | ||||
| Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos | 1997 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal | 1997 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Navnit Dholakia, Baron Dholakia | 1997 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Waheed Alli, Baron Alli | 1998 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin | 1998 | 2010 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Labour Party, now a Crossbencher[116] | British Bangladeshi | ||||
| 2010 | Serving | |||||||
| Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed | 1998 | 2007 (Crossed the floor) | Expelled from the Labour Party, became a Crossbencher[117] | British Pakistani | ||||
| 2007 | 2020 | Resigned under threat of expulsion | ||||||
| Arup Kumar Sinha, 6th Baron Sinha[118] | 1999 | 1999 | Removed | British Indian | ||||
| Tarsem King, Baron King of West Bromwich | 1999 | 2013 | Died | British Indian | ||||
| Usha Prashar, Baroness Prashar | 1999 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Narendra Patel, Baron Patel | 1999 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Rosalind Howells, Baroness Howells of St Davids | 1999 | 2019 | Retired | Black British | ||||
| Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe | 2000 | 2022 | Retired | Anglo-Indian | ||||
| Bhikhu Parekh, Baron Parekh | 2000 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Adam Patel, Baron Patel of Blackburn | 2000 | 2019 | Died | British Indian | ||||
| Herman Ouseley, Baron Ouseley | 2001 | 2019 | Retired | Black British | ||||
| Victor Adebowale, Baron Adebowale | 2001 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Amir Bhatia, Baron Bhatia | 2001 | 2010 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Labour Party, now a Crossbencher[119] | British Indian | ||||
| 2010 | 2023 | Removed | ||||||
| Michael Chan, Baron Chan | 2001 | 2006 | Died | British Chinese | ||||
| John Sentamu, Baron Sentamu | 2002 | 2020 | Retired as Archbishop of York, created a life peer in 2021 | Black British | ||||
| 2021 | Serving | |||||||
| Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya | 2004 | 2019 | Died | British Indian | ||||
| Diljit Rana, Baron Rana | 2004 | 2016 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Crossbenches, now a Conservative | British Indian | ||||
| 2016 | 2024 | Retired | ||||||
| Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey | 2004 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Kishwer Falkner, Baroness Falkner of Margravine[120] | 2004 | 2019 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Liberal Democrats, now a Crossbencher | British Pakistani | ||||
| 2019 | Serving | |||||||
| Michael Hastings, Baron Hastings of Scarisbrick | 2005 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Sandip Verma, Baroness Verma | 2006 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Mohamed Sheikh, Baron Sheikh | 2006 | 2022 | Died | British Indian | ||||
| Karan Bilimoria, Baron Bilimoria | 2006 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Kamlesh Patel, Baron Patel of Bradford | 2006 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Bill Morris, Baron Morris of Handsworth | 2006 | 2020 | Retired | Black British | ||||
| Shriti Vadera, Baroness Vadera | 2007 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Khalid Hameed, Baron Hameed | 2007 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Ara Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham | 2007 | 2019 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Labour Party, now a Crossbencher | British Armenian | ||||
| 2019 | Serving | |||||||
| Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi | 2007 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar | 2007 | 2022 | Died | British Iranian | ||||
| Ajay Kakkar, Baron Kakkar | 2010 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Nat Wei, Baron Wei | 2010 | Serving | British Chinese | |||||
| Meral Hussein-Ece, Baroness Hussein-Ece | 2010 | Serving | British Turkish | |||||
| Floella Benjamin, Baroness Benjamin | 2010 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Paul Boateng, Baron Boateng | 2010 | Serving | Black British/White British (Mixed) | |||||
| Dolar Popat, Baron Popat | 2010 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Bernard Ribeiro, Baron Ribeiro[121] | 2010 | 2023 | Retired | Black British | ||||
| Tariq Ahmad, Baron Ahmad of Wimbledon | 2011 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Qurban Hussain, Baron Hussain[122] | 2011 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Oona King, Baroness King of Bow | 2011 | 2024 | Retired | African American/White British (Mixed) | ||||
| Raj Loomba, Baron Loomba | 2011 | 2016 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Liberal Democrats, now a Crossbencher | British Indian | ||||
| 2016 | Serving | |||||||
| Gulam Noon, Baron Noon | 2011 | 2015 | Died | British Indian | ||||
| Indarjit Singh, Baron Singh of Wimbledon | 2011 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Zahida Manzoor, Baroness Manzoor | 2013 | 2016 (Crossed the floor) | Resigned from the Liberal Democrats, now a Conservative | British Pakistani | ||||
| 2016 | Serving | |||||||
| Rumi Verjee, Baron Verjee | 2013 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Doreen Lawrence, Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon | 2013 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Ranbir Singh Suri, Baron Suri | 2014 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Nosheena Mobarik, Baroness Mobarik | 2014 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Ruby McGregor-Smith, Baroness McGregor-Smith | 2015 | 2024 (Crossed the floor) | Changed affiliation to non-affiliated | British Indian | ||||
| Non-affiliated | 2024 | Serving | ||||||
| Shas Sheehan, Baroness Sheehan | 2015 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Jitesh Gadhia, Baron Gadhia | 2016 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Shami Chakrabarti, Baroness Chakrabarti | 2016 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Martha Osamor, Baroness Osamor[123] | 2018 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Zameer Choudrey, Baron Choudrey[124] | 2019 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Rami Ranger, Baron Ranger[125] | 2019 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Simon Woolley, Baron Woolley of Woodford | 2019 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Minouche Shafik, Baroness Shafik | 2020 | Serving | British Egyptian | |||||
| Aamer Sarfraz, Baron Sarfraz | 2020 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Jo Johnson, Baron Johnson of Marylabone[126] [127] | 2020 | Serving | British Turkish/White British (Mixed) | |||||
| Syed Kamall, Baron Kamall[128] | 2021 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Wajid Khan, Baron Khan of Burnley[129] | 2021 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Prem Sikka, Baron Sikka[130] | 2021 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford[131] | 2021 | Serving | British Iranian/White British (Mixed) | |||||
| Shaista Gohir, Baroness Gohir[132] [133] | 2022 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Sonny Leong, Baron Leong | 2022 | Serving | British Chinese | |||||
| Dambisa Moyo, Baroness Moyo | 2022 | 2024 (Crossed the floor) | Changed affiliation to non-affiliated | Black British | ||||
| Non-affiliated | 2024 | Serving | ||||||
| Tony Sewell, Baron Sewell of Sanderstead | 2022 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Kuldip Singh Sahota, Baron Sahota | 2022 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Shaun Bailey, Baron Bailey of Paddington | 2023 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Kulveer Ranger, Baron Ranger of Northwood | 2023 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Ayesha Hazarika, Baroness Hazarika | 2024 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Alok Sharma, Baron Sharma | 2024 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Hendrick | Central Lancashire | 1994 | 1999 | Defeated | British Somali/White British (Mixed) | |||
| Nirj Deva[134] | South East England | 1999 | 2019 | Defeated | British Sri Lankan | |||
| Bashir Khanbhai | East of England | 1999 | 2004 | Retired | British Indian | |||
| Neena Gill | West Midlands | 1999 | 2009 | Defeated | British Indian | |||
| 2014 | 2020 | Post abolished | ||||||
| Claude Moraes | London | 1999 | 2020 | Post abolished | British Indian | |||
| Sajjad Karim | North West England | 2004 | 2006 (Crossed the floor in 2006) | Left Liberal Democrats, joined Conservative Party | British Pakistani | |||
| 2006 | 2019 | Defeated | ||||||
| Syed Kamall | London | 2005 | 2019 | Defeated | British Indian | |||
| Amjad Bashir[135] | Yorkshire and the Humber | 2014 | 2015 (Crossed the floor in 2015) | Left UKIP, joined Conservative Party | British Pakistani | |||
| 2015 | 2019 | Defeated | ||||||
| M. Afzal Khan | North West England | 2014 | 2017 | Resigned to become Member of Parliament for Manchester Gorton | British Pakistani | |||
| Steven Woolfe | North West England | 2014 | 2016 (Crossed the floor in 2016) | Left UKIP, became an Independent | Black British/White British (Mixed) | |||
| 2016 | 2018 (Crossed the floor in 2018) | Joined Conservative Party | ||||||
| 2018 | 2019 | Retired | ||||||
| Wajid Khan | North West England | 2017 | 2019 | Defeated | British Pakistani | |||
| Nosheena Mobarik | Scotland | 2017 | 2020 | Post abolished | British Pakistani | |||
| Dinesh Dhamija | London | 2019 | 2020 | Post abolished | British Indian | |||
| Benyamin Habib | London | 2019 | 2020 | Post abolished | British Pakistani | |||
| Christina Jordan | South West England | 2019 | 2020 | Post abolished | British Malaysian | |||
| Magid Magid | Yorkshire and the Humber | 2019 | 2020 | Post abolished | British Somali | |||
| Shaffaq Mohammed | Yorkshire and the Humber | 2019 | 2020 | Post abolished | British Pakistani | |||
| Louis Stedman-Bryce | Scotland | 2019 | 2019 (Crossed the floor in 2019) | Resigned from the Brexit Party | Black British[136] [137] /White British (Mixed) | |||
| 2019 | 2020 | Post abolished | ||||||
| Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boris Johnson[138] [139] | Mayor of London | 2008 | 2016 | Retired | British Turkish/White British (Mixed) | |||
| Sadiq Khan | Mayor of London | 2016 | Serving | British Pakistani[140] | ||||
| Party | Portrait | Name | Role | Year appointed | Ethnicity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Lewis | Deputy Mayor for Young People | 2008 | Black British[141] | |||
| Munira Mirza | Deputy Mayor for Education and Culture | 2012 | British Pakistani[142] | |||
| Rajesh Agarwal | Deputy Mayor for Business | 2016 | British Indian | |||
| Shirley Rodrigues | Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy | 2016 | British Indian | |||
| Debbie Weekes-Bernard | Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice | 2018 | Black British[143] | |||
| Mete Coban | Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy | 2024 | British Turkish[144] | |||
| Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | First office held | Year appointed | Ethnicity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trevor Phillips | London-wide | Chair of the London Assembly | 2002 | Black British | |||
| Jennette Arnold | London-wide | Chair of the London Assembly | 2008 | Black British | |||
| Navin Shah | Brent and Harrow | Chair of the London Assembly | 2020 | British Indian | |||
| Onkar Sahota | Ealing and Hillingdon | Chair of the London Assembly | 2022 | British Indian | |||
| Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | First office held | Year appointed | Ethnicity | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humza Yousaf | Glasgow | 2012 | British Pakistani | |||||
| Kaukab Stewart | Glasgow Kelvin | 2024 | British Pakistani | |||||
| Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bashir Ahmad[148] | Glasgow | 2007 | 2009 | Died in office | British Pakistani | ||||
| Hanzala Malik[149] | Glasgow | 2011 | 2016 | Defeated | British Pakistani/White British (Mixed) | ||||
| Humza Yousaf[150] | Glasgow | 2011 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Anas Sarwar | Glasgow | 2016 | Serving | ||||||
| Foysol Choudhury[151] | Lothian | 2021 | Serving | British Bangladeshi | |||||
| Pam Gosal | West Scotland | 2021 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Sandesh Gulhane | Glasgow | 2021 | Serving | British Indian | |||||
| Kaukab Stewart[152] | Glasgow | 2021 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammad Asghar[153] | South Wales East | 2007 | 2009 (Crossed the floor in 2009) | Left Plaid Cymru, joined Conservative Party | British Pakistani | ||||
| South Wales East | 2009 | 2020 | Died in office | ||||||
| Vaughan Gething | Cardiff South and Penarth | 2011 | Serving | Black British/White British (Mixed) | |||||
| Altaf Hussain[154] | South Wales West | 2015 | 2016 | Defeated | British Indian | ||||
| 2021 | Serving | ||||||||
| Natasha Asghar[155] | South Wales East | 2021 | Serving | British Pakistani | |||||
| Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardyal Dhindsa[157] | Derbyshire | 2016 | 2021 | Defeated | British Indian | ||||
| Festus Akinbusoye[158] | Bedfordshire | 2021 | 2024 | Defeated | Black British | ||||
| Gary Godden | Nottinghamshire | 2024 | Serving | Black British/White British (Mixed) | |||||
| Nicolle Ndiweni[159] | Derbyshire | 2024 | Serving | Black British | |||||
| Emma Wools | South Wales | 2024 | Serving | Black British/White British (Mixed) | |||||
| Party | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Year elected | Year left | Reason for tenure ending | Ethnicity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lutfur Rahman | Mayor of Tower Hamlets | 2010 | 2014 (Crossed the floor in 2014) | Created Tower Hamlets First | British Bangladeshi | |||
| 2014 | 2015 | Election court found corrupt or illegal practices and removed from office | ||||||
| 2022 | Serving | |||||||
| Marvin Rees | Mayor of Bristol | 2016 | 2024 | Office abolished | Black British/White British (Mixed) | |||
| Rokhsana Fiaz | Mayor of Newham | 2018 | Serving | British Pakistani[160] | ||||
| Joanne Anderson | Mayor of Liverpool | 2021 | 2023 | Office abolished | Black British | |||
| Brenda Dacres | Mayor of Lewisham | 2024 | Serving | Black British | ||||
. Shamit Saggar. Race And British Electoral Politics. https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_KNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PR10. 29 August 2017. 2004. Routledge. 978-1-135-35947-8. x. Foreword.